Awakening: Retold (Again)
by Xamusel - Gamma 11
Summary: Co-written with Drake the Gunner. When one starts off in the real world and finds themselves in the land of Ylisse, you can be sure that Hell will be raised, given that there will be more trouble than what Robin seems to have forgotten about. SI fic with some dignity left for both of us.
1. Prologue

**Awakening: Retold (Again)**

_Story written by Drake the Gunner and Xamusel (posted by Xamusel)_

**Prologue:** How it all started

**(Drake's Perspective)**

Just a normal day in school… well normal for me and my class, since I act like an anime melodramatic character, my best friend becomes a Sasuke/nice guy person, another friend is a pervert, another goes Corpse Party on us and the last is into Zoids and animals.

Me? I'm the one that makes you question your sanity with my craziness; ten out of ten psychologists say I'm fine… Me and my friends say the contrary. I act like some gay guy to my Sasuke/nice guy friend for Lulz and I'm a pervert, what? I was raised by women. Anyway my friends say I'm a combination of the anime characters: Shikamaru from Naruto, Light and L from Death Note and the father guy from Ao no Exorcist. So you can guess my personality a bit…

Now I'm here at school, bored out of my mind and poking my classmates and teacher with a wooden stick I found in the backyard, their reactions are priceless. Well they're mad so I better go to sleep now… If only I knew what came from it.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Xam's Perspective)**

Great… a regular day at work, cleaning my chiropractor's office for an hour a week, and only for a buck every six minutes. Well, not that I mind, I do have people that need me to support them with whatever cash I can scrounge up… namely a girl in Central America that I still need to write to and introduce myself to.

Well, what can I say? I want to help people; I'm that sort of person.

As far as why I'm a janitor? Well, that's need to know, and nobody else is allowed to know right now. When it comes to why I work at my doc's office as his janitor one hour out of the week, part-time jobs suck, which I'll freely admit… even though that's my current job right now.

Oh well.

Now that its 5:00 PM local time, it should be time to go home… wait, hang on. Today's my birthday! I don't have to go straight home to where I live yet, so I'll be going to a relative's house for my birthday celebration, a great birthday celebration on this fine Tuesday the 22nd for family.

* * *

Now that it's roughly 8:30 PM local time, I need to get home, and back to work on my various projects. After finishing the celebrations, I make it back to the car, and ride with my parents back to my current place of residence.

...no, I don't know how to drive yet, so sue me if you want a boot to the head.

In any case, I plan on getting to a good part in a Naruto multi-crossover I'm writing, which is being written with a friend of mine. This story… well, no spoilers out of me, y'hear?

* * *

It's now 9:25 PM local time, and I have my laptop open and up right now, waiting for my friend to show up. To pass the time, I start writing a bit in the story, thinking back on the plan of the story that I have in mind. When I get to the good part of the fight scene I was having trouble with, the fight started to flow right out of me, all the way for until I finish the battle between a pride of enhanced and deranged lions and two girls that look like they're at least 10 years old.

Eventually, I see that my friend showed up, which means that I had to deal with what he was gonna write for a fight scene in his jurisdiction—

***Meow***

I look to my left, seeing a white cat that somehow got inside the house without anyone knowing, and it looked rather healthy compared to when Sandy and Sidney first arrived.

...speaking of those two fully-grown cats, where did they go, anyway?

No, I don't really like cats, but it's better than my brother's irrational hatred of dogs. I don't think he'd do well in the Dog Days universe.

Still, where did Sandy and Sidney go? I could have sworn that they'd be around, especially if the door's… closed?

That's odd. Why is the door closed, but a cat in my room? It just doesn't make sense, especially since reality doesn't work that… way?

Suddenly, the white cat leapt up onto my lap, right between me and my laptop… and effectively trapping me in my seat.

...dammit! Now I can't get anyone to help me get this kitty out of my room!

Just as suddenly, a pulling feeling in my brain happened, seemingly coming from my laptop's monitor. As soon as I looked in the direction of said part of my computer, I knew things had gone straight to Hell, because the screen had literally turned into some sort of black hole!

Before I could do anything to get the laptop away from me….

***CLANK!***

A pile of things dropped on my head, including a katana in a scabbard, which forced me and the cat to go into the black hole… with me being unconscious by the time I even entered it.

* * *

When I woke up, I had found myself standing upright, and in a room that probably shouldn't exist in the real world. I mean, given that the room's just four columns surrounding a raised checkered platform, with a man in a white monkey suit and a butterfly mask….

Wait, hold on, I think I should know this guy by now… who is he?

The man bows to me and then says, "Welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Philemon, a dweller between consciousness and unconsciousness. And, now, a simple test. Can you state your name?"

...oh. _Now_ I get it! Still, I have to ask something, so….

"Do you care if it's my real name or a fake name?"

Philemon said, "It matters not, so long as you state your real name before too long."

"How long are we talking about here?" I asked.

"Before you return to your real home," Philemon said in reply, aware of something I was somehow oblivious to.

I sighed, before I said to the avatar of Humanity's prosperity, "Call me Zamuseru Uzukano, Zamu for short."

Nodding his head, Philemon said, "Splendid. There aren't many who can remember their identity when in this domain. It seems you've passed that test."

Pointing his finger at me, he continued, "But tell me this. Are you aware of the many and varied selves you harbor within you? The 'self' suffused with divine love; the 'self' capable of demonic cruelty. People live by wearing different masks. Your current self may be only one of those innumerable masks."

Holding a hand out, a ball of light appeared and morphed into a figure I recognized as Seimen Kongou, while he said, "You, though… you have a very firm grip on your identity. I respect your strong will. In return, I grant this power… Persona. It is the power to summon the selves within you. The gods and the demons you harbor."

As soon as he dismissed the image of Seimen Kongou, he said to me, "The time is soon when you will need this power. Now, you must head off, to the time and place where you are needed the most right now."

Before I could get the last word in on this, I felt my consciousness fade, letting me go to the land where I was needed the most right now.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Third Person POV)**

In a land far away from the dimension Earth resides in, life was about as peaceful as it could get in the town of Southtown, where war and bandits were about as commonplace as paper money… in short, non-existent. It was at this time that a pair of siblings found a young man with white hair and a book of power in his possession, though nothing would prepare them for what would possibly happen in the town itself… nor would anything prepare them for what was to occur in the future of their world.

* * *

A man wearing a black robe with a black hood walked into Southtown with a young man in his arms and a white cat walking behind him. This man, as far as mysterious people go, was one that could blend into the crowd easily despite his attire.

When he got to the Inn, he got the Innkeeper's attention by saying, "I have someone here that needs a room to heal in." With the Innkeeper's attention on him, he handed the man a sack of gold, saying, "This should be enough to get him your finest room with a full squad of healers on hand."

As soon as the gold was counted, the man walked to the room for the young man, which was at the top of the Inn. Placing the young man in the bed, the older man said, "Now... may fortune smile on you, as your heart paves the way to the future."

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**Xamusel's A/N: Well, if you had followed the original version of this story, then you'd be aware of the fact that we decided to rewrite the whole thing from the ground up. I was still writing my part of this when Drake had to go to bed, so I decided to get this posted for him, as a way of saying "I had to wrap this up for you". Thank you for understanding the truth of this.**

**Now, there may be people that don't like the whole style of A/N we had it at before, so I intend to keep things at a more… reasonable way of sharing our notes. A faux-RP style is not what we want or need.**

**Also, villains in this story will be different, hopefully (we already used Gilgamesh the first time, and there's no way that we'd use him again like that, given how ridiculously OP he is and how he demands to be the final boss just by nature of who he is). We'll keep you posted on that as soon as we can.**

**Thank you for understanding.**

**-Xamusel**

**PS: Starting in the first actual chapter, Drake and I will have different sides of the document to use for our A/N, with me calling dibs on the bottom of the documents.**

**EDIT 3/29/2014: Reposting this story from the beginning... why? Because I was a moron and deleted this story when people actually cared enough to review it the first time! I'll give it until tomorrow before I post the next chapter (I live on the West Coast of the United States of America).**


	2. Chapter 1

**Drake A/N: FUCKING FINALLY! Sorry for making you worry folks. I kinda forgot about this fic and all cause of school and well, you get the idea. And I'm in the process of making yet another fic.**

***Chirping***

***Chirping***

**Yes, I know. But I think I can actually make it work. Xam is my beta so I'm more assured, I just hope I can pull off what I want considering I'm using the anime, manga AND the freaking light novel for it. And there are some concepts from animes and games in this chapter so since I'm first in the AN, I hope Xam can explain them to you all. And this A/N was made from my iPhone, anything else... No?**

**OK, let's start!**

**Disclaimer: We own shit except plot and ourselves.**

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**Chapter 1:** Calm before the Storm

**(? POV)**

Darkness… That is all I see as I'm falling. Just like when one is falling in water.

**"Hehehehe, Yes… come."**

Who is that? A voice so dark. It feels weird.

**"Hehehehe, Yes… entrust your heart to me. I shall make them…."**

What? I couldn't hear him, he just disappeared… what is my name…

Yes I remember. It's Unsei… Unsei Chujitsuna… yeah I'm a loyal fortune, my luck… is high, even my friends are affected by it.

And the darkness is my ally, my friend for as long as I remember. It has always comforted me.

But this darkness… It's different. It's oppressing, almost like it shall consume my whole being.

**"I'll see you soon."**

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Zamu POV)**

It was with a groan that I woke up from my forced slumber. I didn't know if the dream I had last night was really a dream or not, but I could tell that my body now rested in bed, probably back home. Then again, when did my bed come with something akin to an electroshock therapy feature…?

Wait, _electroshock therapy_?

Opening my eyes, I scan the room I'm in, seeing females that looked like they belong in Final Fantasy of all things… namely as White Mages. Eventually, I realise something… namely, I don't have my glasses on and yet I can see crystal clear!

As if noticing that I'm finally awake, one of the White Mages turned to me and said, "Oh, you're awake. I'm glad that you woke up, given the extensive injuries that you had suffered from."

Turning my attention to the woman, I ask her, "W...where am I?"

"You're in Southtown's Inn," she answered serenely, oblivious to my eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Okay, maybe this wasn't a Final Fantasy game I found myself in, but Fire Emblem: Awakening instead… how did that work? I mean, how did White Mages appear in Ylisse, anyway?

Then I thought of something important, so I asked, "How long have I been cooped up in here?"

The healer, still in that serene way, then told me, "About a week and a half, or ten days."

...ouch. That has got to suck. Still… what happened to the kitty that came with me?

***Meow***

I turn my attention to where my feet are being covered. To my surprise, the kitty's here, which is a good thing…? I think.

Still, why do I feel like I'm about to sneeze if the kitty gets close to me, anyway?

With that, the kitty jumped near my face, making me feel the urge to sneeze even more. By that point, I couldn't help it, so I turned my face away from the kitty and away from the healer and let out a rather loud sneeze.

...I don't believe it. How did I get allergic to cats?

In any case, the kitty got the message about my sneeze attack, so it moved away from my head and towards my feet. That makes things easier for me at least.

Still, I'm confused… whatever happened, it was probably something that involved me being sent over here. Then again, however this came to be, I have to take it like a man… okay, maybe an autistic man, but a man regardless.

With that, I moved to get out of bed, only for the healer to push me back down. Before I can ask why I was still being confined to the bed, she said to me, "You're not fit for travel yet. You were in such a rotten state when you first came here, and the man that brought you here was adamant that you rest for another two days, what with the reason for you being this way that he gave."

I blink a few times in confusion. What could possibly be the reason for me being cooped up in here?

As if seeing the confusion on my face, the healer said, "You're a survivor of the massacre from two weeks ago today. The Uzukano family is all but wiped out… you're the only one left."

Upon hearing that, I felt my eyes widen, though I don't quite know why that would be the case. I mean, given that I sorta made up the name "Zamuseru Uzukano", there shouldn't be anyone with the surname Uzukano in this area other than myself.

It was roughly at that point when the healer got up and said to me, "Wait here. I'll get you some clothes." With that, she left the room with the rest of the healers.

After hearing the door close, I got out of bed, noticing that I was as naked as a newborn child. For whatever reason, I notice that the clothes I came with were gone, probably burned for all they care. Then again, I really should wait for some clothes, if only because I'm not the sort of person that would walk about stark naked in the middle of town. This isn't a nude beach or anything like that.

"Here," a woman's voice said from behind me, while a woman's hand held out some clothes on a coat hanger.

...wait; hold on, a _coat hanger_?!

Turning my head and body around, I saw at a rather beautiful black-haired woman with amethyst eyes wearing a light purple kimono, her hair held back in a high pony tail by a pinkish ribbon in a bow. Now… if only I could remember where she came from.

Suddenly, it hit me. The woman in front of me is Himari Noihara, from _Omamori Himari_!

"Y-y-y-you're the white cat from earlier!" I exclaim.

"Indeed I am, young master," Himari, in a stoic monotone, said with a nod. "I am yours to use at your leisure, all until you have an heir and die. My feelings on the subject are not important, so be sure to—"

***SLAP!***

With anger fueling me for a short bit, I slapped Himari, before yelling at her, "You deserve more than what you're telling yourself you do, Himari Noihara! You deserve your own fate in this world, and any other that you find yourself in, regardless of who you're supposed to serve!" After that little rant, I calmed myself down, before saying, "I'm sorry, but I hate it when people don't value themselves at a high enough level. Please, consider my words… not for my sake, but your own."

Himari, whose left cheek was red from the slap, and whose eyes were wide and watery, simply nodded, her ability to speak having left her momentarily. Tears fell freely from her eyes, which prompted me to find a shirt to put on immediately, so that I could give her a shoulder to cry on better.

I had just put the shirt on completely when I saw Himari lunge to my left shoulder, crying out for relief's sake. It was a good thing that I wasn't as dense as before, because I figured that I needed to help soothe her this time, to ease her fears of being used and then thrown away. With that, I held her close to me, making sure that she knew I would never use her that way.

When she finished crying, she moved away from me enough to turn around without getting herself in a tangle of some sort, though it sorta confused me as to why….

Oh, right, forgot about my nakedness. Never mind.

As soon as I got the rest of my clothes, I turn to look the room over. Apparently, I was given a top-grade suite by Southtown standards… which doesn't really mean much to me right now. By the time my eyes swept over the room, I had noticed a few knick-knacks and other such trinkets, even a sword made of bronze that… wait, hold on, where did the sword come from?

Before my brain could tell my body not to grab the sword, I was walking over to it, then….

I stopped in front of it, pondering whether or not to take the sword, before I heard an explosion from near the inn. Looking out the window to figure out what was going on, I saw what appeared to be bandits wielding similarly made longswords to the sword that I saw in front of me, which turned out to be a Katana. Looking for a few more seconds, I came to a decision, all the while a song playing in my mind's eye.

_I'm an angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun_

_An angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun_

_Get out your guns_

_Battle's begun_

_Are you a saint or a sinner?_

_If love's a fight then I shall die_

_With my heart on a trigger_

_They say: "Before you start a war,_

_"You better know what you're fighting for!"_

_Well, baby, you are all that I adore_

_If love is what you need, a soldier I will be_

_I'm an angel with a shotgun_

_Fighting till the war's won_

_I don't care if Heaven won't take me back!_

_I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe_

_Don't you know you're everything I have?_

_And I_

_Wanna live, not just survive_

_TONIGHT_

...okay, gotta quit singing it now, sorry.

With the decision in mind, I grab the Bronze Katana and attach it to my belt, before I turn to the door to hurry out—

"DOOOOOOOOOOD!"

—only to hear a Prinny being thrown… wait, seriously, how do you find Prinnies in the continent of Ylisse?

***BOOM***

Okay, stupid question? Meet stupid answer, and become a happy couple. I hope that was the only one.

"DOOOOOD! Not again!"

...curses. This has got to be a retarded joke.

***BOOM***

Okay, seriously, I gotta get out there. Turning to face Himari, I ask her, "You ready to get into the battlefield?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, milord," she answered. As I saw her katana at the ready, we both ran out of the inn and made it outside, hopefully without any loss of civilian life.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Unsei POV)**

_"Ugh. Damn, why can't I ever sleep in peace?"_ I thought as I woke up.

Ok let's see, I'm in an alleyway, to my left goes to the town's rode and to my right is a curtain of laundry drying. I have a bad feeling about this.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Oh shit. What is up with people these days?

"Now, come on boy, give me whatever gold you have and we won't have any problems." He told me as I turned to face him. And damn was he ugly…

Wait…

.

.

.

Holy shit I'm gonna get mugged! And so I ran through the curtains and threw at him the first thing I found, which was surprisingly a blue and white penguin.

"DOOOOOOOOOOD!"

_'Wait,'_ I thought as I stopped.

***BOOM***

What…

Tha…

Fuck…

Did I just throw a prinny… a FUCKING PRINNY? They aren't supposed to exist damnit.

"Hey punk! Think you can get away that easily?"

"Run, run away like the gingerbread man!" I shouted as I resumed my escape, it will probably kill me because of my high blood pressure but… WHO CARES?

And I found yet another prinny. Think what I did.

"DOOOOOD! Not again!"

***BOOM***

You gotta love prinnies.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Third Person Omniscient Perspective)**

When Zamu, with his white skin, nearly-black hair, and hazel eyes, and Himari made it to where the explosions took place, they saw a few bandits chasing a young man with light brown skin and black hair, wearing a deep red haori with a black belt at the waist to keep it closed over a black shirt and black pants with greaves at his feet, his right sleeve was covered in a gauntlet reaching up to his shoulder.

And he was throwing prinnies at them.

Zamu quirked an eyebrow at the sight in front of him, before saying, "Metaphysical Irregularity? Who'd have thought it?"

Himari turned to face Zamu and asked, "What are you talking about, milord?"

Zamu shook his head, saying, "Forget it. It's not important."

"DROPKICK!"

Zamu moved his body out of the way… barely. He saw the young man from earlier had missed his dropkick on him, making him wonder how the guy managed to pull that off, only to look and realize that the bandits that were following him turned their attention into him and Himari.

"...you have _got_ to be kidding me," Zamu said. "Now this is just unfair, y'hear me?"

"Agreed," Himari said, shaking her head at the situation.

It was at that moment that the bandits charged at the three of them.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**Xamusel A/N: Okay, here's the first official chapter, as promised. I just hope that we don't screw it up in delivery.**

**Now, for those of you wondering, a Prinny is an exploding penguin from the video game series "Disgaea", while Himari, as mentioned in-story, is a cat-girl, or, more specifically, a Cat Ayakashi. **

***Drake appears out of nowhere*: Think of a nekomata.**

***Drake disappears***

**Xamusel: Er… didn't we say that there wouldn't be any faux-RP style A/Ns?**

**As far as the concept of Philemon from the last chapter? He's a Jungian concept that made himself known to Shin Megami Tensei fans in the Persona series, namely the avatar of much of the human conscious, and he's rivals with an entity known as Nyarlathotep… the source of Chaos in the human consciousness.**

**Guess who got sided with Nyarly.**

**By the way, if anyone wants to find the song used in this chapter, here it is on Youtube: www dot youtube dot com watch ? v=cvaIgq5j2Q8**

**Be sure to remove the spaces and put in periods where needed.**

**Also: Who was the black cloaked man from the prologue? What role will the guy have in the story?**

**It's up to you to read on and find out.**

**Now… it's time to post this and get the show on the road!**

**-Xamusel**

**PS: No, I'm not gonna forget about the man cloaked in black, at least not intentionally.**

**EDIT 3/29/2014: Okay, so I lied about when this chapter would be put up, but I'm not gonna lie about the time when the next chapter will be published. I'm waiting on it to be beta'd by someone... hopefully they can help get it cleaned up all the way (if needed).**


	3. Chapter 2

**Drake A/N: This is from my iPhone folks and I'm in a hurry with my DxD:SMT maelstrom fic. We have a new friend and co-author(?) pain17ification who is an awesome guy. Now I'm thinking of at the end Xam would give you all and explanation on any new element that has been added that does not belong in Fire Emblem. Again in a hurry and I'm terribly sorry for the delay. Now I just have to endure my last 7 days of high school... I'm gonna miss my graduation class, they're my second family.**

**(Additional Disclaimer: Shizen belongs to pain17ification. That's all we can say right now.)**

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**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

Chapter 2: When the Storm is late to Arrive

**(Unsei POV)**

_"Shit, shit, shit!"_ I thought to myself as I recovered from my failed attempt at a dropkick at the guy and the girl next to him.

_"God damn it! Why must I have such high blood pressure?"_ Well I might as well rest a bit. Good thing there are a lot of alleys on this town.

_"You know it was bad of you to leave them both with your bandit problem."_ Oh shit, I'm hearing voices in my head now.

_"**Maybe you should shut up and run, they're nothing more than small fry.**"_ Just great, another voice.

_"We are not voices in your head for we are you."_ Oh fuck me sideways.

_"**Maybe after we escape.**"_ Ok then… So if you're both myself then what should I call you?

_"You may call me 'me'"_

_"**And I'm I**"_

_"**And you're myself.**"_

I always knew I had multiple personality disorder but never thought it would be this bad.

"And what would you two want?

_"**For you to choose.**"_ Oh crap.

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**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(? POV)**

I looked on in surprise at the number of bandits that entered my field of view. So many humans aiming to kill or plunder just to get by. Humans always intrigued me, what with their rather limited lifespans, and yet they still seem to surprise me at every turn. Truly, their limits seem to be getting less and less visible with every encounter I have with them.

_'Curious,'_ I thought as I made way for a better vantage point of the no doubt aggressive event about to take place. My normally gray eyes shifted to a golden sheen with a serpentine slit pupil, allowing my vision to catch every detail. Whether it was a bead of sweat rolling down their face, or the slight twitch of their fingers around their weapons...I'd see it, and I'd be thoroughly entertained. Human tactics are always so intriguing.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Zamuseru POV)**

As the bandits charged Himari and I, I drew my Katana and prepared to attack, Himari doing the same. My eyes narrowed and my breathing increased just slightly as they drew closer and closer. Himari looked to me out of the corner of her eye, waiting for me to make any gesture, any sign of when to strike.

In the background, a plank could be heard falling, before it crashed onto the ground with a slight clack. Once the sound was made, Himari and I made our move and rushed against our adversaries.

The first bandit that came across us swung his broadsword in an attempt to cleave me, only for me to block with the blade I held, before I spun in place and slashed the man diagonally, cutting through his armor as I did so. The blow pushed him back, giving me room to spin and slash against another bandit who tried to get the drop on me.

Himari, on the other hand, was slashing through the bandits' weapons as if her sword was a really hot knife on butter. Not only that, but the bandits were being beheaded as a result, because they didn't know to duck or otherwise dodge the swinging blade. The way she moved was like the wind, flowing across the very earth randomly yet beautifully. I was left amazed at her flowing style, so much that I was barely able to notice an attack on me until the last second when I blocked on pure instinct.

As the bandit attacking me brought his sword to bear again, I went into a style of swordsmanship that was vaguely reminiscent of a Visual Novel series that I remember from somewhere, with my blade held sharp edge-up and held perpendicular from my body. As I wait for the bandit to get within range, I intone, "Hiken". With the bandit charging onward, I yell, "TSUBAME GAESHI!" With that, I swing the blade once to have the sharp edge-down, leaving three slashes at the same time on the bandit that were each very fatal on their own.

One slash across the waist…

One slash going down from the left shoulder and through the heart…

And one slash through the jugular.

By this point in the conflict, roughly three quarters of the bandits in the immediate area were dead, as I noted out of the corners of my eyes. The numbers seemed to be going down a lot, but I could tell, something was wrong with the picture. If anything, the bandits seemed to be _increasing_ in number, not staying down!

At this point, I don't know how it happened, but the guy that tried to dropkick me earlier just appeared out of nowhere and knocked a few of the bandits out!

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Unsei POV)**

"Come on! I got more where that came from!" I shouted as I backhanded to nearest guy next to me after knocking some other bandits out….

_"Being so good is gonna get me killed one of this days. Plus, I don't like fighting"_

_"But the reward of taking responsibility for your action and helping others is higher."_

_"**I think we should've just left them with the bandits and run away.**"_

_"SHUT UP!"_ I can't believe I'm shouting to myself to shut up, I hate having a personality disorder.

_"**DUCK!**"_ I did as 'I' said and watch as a bandits sword passed through where my head was. Not letting the opportunity go to waste I accomplished every man's dream.

"SHORYUKEN!" I must really be bored caused I just uppercutted the guy Street Fighter style

I hate Street Fighter, so I'm gonna do this TEKKEN style.

Dodge an axe trying to split me in half, hold bandits arm and palm strike the elbow.

"ARGG" Man I never thought hearing my enemies would be so satisfying.

"Hey dude, get your head in the game!" I shouted to the guy and the girl… mmmm the girl seems familiar.

_"JUMP!"_ I did as told and roundhoused the poor sap.

Once on the ground I weaved through one bandit and uppercutted a second. As the other bandit went to strike me with his sword I used my right arm, which thankfully was covered in a gauntlet, and blocked his slash.

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**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(? POV)**

I couldn't help but grin slightly as I saw the events below my point of view take place. These humans were actually quite a sight to see. The way they used their swords and how they reacted was like watching one of those "play" things that I heard so much about.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder if my assistance was needed here… While it's true that they were doing very well, the number of bandits left was still pretty high. I sighed to myself as I lifted up the necklace wrapped around my neck that held the Dragon Stone I needed to summon forth my full power.

_'Here goes nothing, I guess,'_ I thought to myself before my form was taken over in a flash of gold, lighting up my ebon purple hair and golden slitted eyes.

With a roar of power and primal rage, I took to the air and made my presence known to all. A gleam in my draconic eye could be seen as I grinned and showed my razor fangs. C'mon, it's not every day that I get to scare the wits out of some humans with the sight of my purest form. And it isn't every day that they see a purple scaled dragon appearing in front of them outta nowhere!

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Zamuseru POV)**

I was in shock at hearing the sound of a dragon, but I think I nearly soiled myself when I looked up and saw it. I mean, seriously! I don't think I ever saw a real dragon before in my life!

Then again, I suppose everyone was scared of it, given that the bandits decided to use that opportunity to run…

"Cowards!" Himari yelled at the bandits as she rushed them.

...only for Himari to deny them that privilege and slaughter them all. The exact nature of the slaughter was so gory, it's not exactly fit for little children, so… let's just skip it over for now.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Third Person Omniscient POV)**

As soon as Himari was finished disposing of the remaining bandits, she and the others turned to the dragon who merely gazed upon them curiously. The scales were colored so that they shined purple only in direct light, but looked black without it. The eyes of the beast were molten gold with a black slit pupil and its right eye had a jagged scar going across it to its snout. Smoke came out of its nose with every exhale and it stood at a height of nearly ten feet.

It was suddenly engulfed in a bright golden glow and shrank to the size of a human. When the light died down, a man who looked to be in his late teens was seen. His hair was the same color as the scales of the dragon and his eyes changed from gold to a stormy gray. His hair was waist-length with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face and covering most of his scarred right eye. He wore a tattered black shirt that had the right sleeve torn from the elbow down and wore shoulder armor on his left side. He had two gray belts over his torso in a crisscrossing fashion, holding up two small packs on his back, while a necklace with a large stone acting as its pendant rested around his neck. Worn out brown pants were seen as well, with a few rips and tears here and there. As for footwear, he had nothing but bandages around his ankles and heels. The last noticeable thing about the man happened to be the claws on his fingers and toes.

When he was finished with his transformation into a human, he gave them a small wave with a smirk on his face, giving them a perfect view of his fanged teeth. "Hey there!" he greeted jovially. "It looks like we took care of this towns little bandit problem. Man, I've never seen so many humans actually working together for something as simple as a town raiding. Teaming up for a battle or a war; yea, I've seen plenty of those, but never something small scale like this."

The others couldn't help but give the teenage looking human/dragon blank stares at both his greeting and his words.

Only for a lightning strike to hit him on his side.

"Hold bandits!"

The group of four turned and saw a second group of four just entering the market square of the town. Leading them was a man with blue hair and eyes with a large sword in his hand and a noble looking birthmark on his right shoulder. With him was a blonde girl holding a healing staff, a heavily armored man on horseback, and a hooded person wearing clothing reminiscent of a sorcerer. From the tome of Thunder in their hand, it was clear that they were the one who shot the lightning bolt.

The Manakete merely groaned in annoyance as he rubbed the side of his head that was struck. "Man, you really need to watch where you fire those things… You could kill someone like that, y'know." When the four newcomers looked to him in surprise at the lack of reaction, he smirked and moved to lean against an unharmed cart. "What? Never seen someone shrug off a bolt of lightning before?" he asked in a carefree manner.

"H-h-h-h-how did you do that?!" the hooded person, who was judged to be a male by their voice, asked with very visible surprise.

"Honestly?" Zamuseru answered the hooded man, shaking his head in annoyance. "I have no idea how he does _anything_, even turn into a human, like he did a bit ago."

"That's it! I am SO drinking after all this shit is over!" Unsei shouted in annoyance, right behind Zamuseru and Himari.

The Manakete just chuckled as he watched things play out and the four newcomers' sweatdropped.

It was at this time that someone threw a rock at the guy in blue from a position behind Zamuseru and Unsei. For whatever reason, the rock was able to hit the man square on the forehead, which resulted in the blue guy gaining a surprised look and followed by a tick mark in annoyance from the horseman.

"You dare assault Prince Chrom of Ylisse?" The horseman asked as he brandished his spear.

_'Seriously? That guy's a prince? He's still just a boy,'_ thought the ebon haired man. _'And that knight's acting like a nanny or something… Yeesh...'_ He then narrowed his eyes at the others surrounding the Prince. _'But still, children have proven themselves countless times; especially **human** children. Best to play it safe for now...'_

_'Okay, this is bad,'_ Zamuseru thought. _'I know this is Ylisse, but who in their right mind would let Chrom out into this place to get into a brawl with us? I mean, shouldn't he be dealing with justice right now?'_ It was at that point when he remembered something. _'Crap, this is worse than bad; he's here on Shepard duty!'_

Himari, who had returned a short bit prior, scanned the immediate area and thought, _'Whoever framed us will be in a lot of trouble, with my blade through their heart! That much I will guarantee.'_

_'Okay, move a bit without anyone noticing and grab the fucking exploding penguin just in case shit hits the fan… Fuck my life, I wanna live normally.'_ Unsei thought as he quietly grabbed a prinny and looked nervous.

The Manakete slowly shifted his gaze to the original three he was observing and motioned the other four with his head in an attempt to ask what they should do. His clawed hand slowly moved to his necklace while his eyes shifted to a golden sheen. _'I hope you three are as good as I witnessed...'_

It was at this time that the Knight on horseback declared, "I hope you are ready to pay for the crime of assaulting Prince Chrom! Here I come!"

"DOOOOOOOOD!" Cue flying penguin at charging horseman. "Take this, moda fuckaaa!"

"What in the name of the Goddess is that?!" yelled out the hooded member of Chrom's group.

Zamuseru, despite himself, palmed his face and yelled, "It's called a Prinny! It's a penguin that can explode!"

**BOOOM**

"FREDERICK!" The blond girl shouted in worry as she dashed to the explosion site.

"LISSA!" The hooded member of the group immediately moved to cast a thunder spell at Unsei, but Zamuseru dashed forward and slashed out at the hooded man, causing him to draw his Bronze Sword and block the strike. At that moment, it was hard to say who had the most strength, but Zamuseru was beginning to win the battle of attrition.

Himari, on the other hand, had locked blades with Chrom. With a flurry of strikes, they had a lot of trouble even scratching each other, let alone dealing a decisive blow.

"Ah, damnit all!" yelled the Manakete in annoyance before he activated his Dragonstone and was engulfed in gray flames before he revealed his dragon form with a loud roar. He then jumped and landed between the two sides. **"Enough!"** he cried with his eyes glowing fiercely. **"This town has seen enough wanton destruction!"**

Zamuseru looked around the town, noticing that much of the destruction in town was either the bandits dying, or from the Manakete. "Er, mister dragon, I think you caused more damage in the last minute than the rest of us in an hour," he deadpanned to him.

The dragon sweatdropped and took a look behind him, making the sweatdrop double in size at the sight of the damage. **"...Whoops."**

"Yeah, 'whoops'," Zamuseru said sarcastically.

Reverting back to his human form, he rubbed his head awkwardly and stated, "Well anyway, don't you think fighting one another is just a waste? I mean, we're seriously fighting because Princey got smacked by a rock?" He then crossed his arms and scoffed out, "Kids… All of you."

Himari then took the time to look around, finding the one that threw the rock about to leave the area. "Oh, no you don't!" She yelled, before dashing towards the one in question… who turned out to be a surviving bandit.

"No, don't kill me!" he pitifully begged when she grabbed him.

"You framed us, and you thought you could get away with getting us all killed, especially my master?! Prepare to meet your end!" She snarled, before running the bandit through with her blade, like she planned on doing.

"That's one issue dealt with…" muttered the hooded member of Chrom's party. He then looked to the four and asked, "So, who are you all anyway?"

Zamuseru turned to face the hooded man, before saying, "Isn't it good manners to introduce yourself first?"

"Oh, right. My name's Robin," was the hooded member's response, removing his hood in the process to reveal his short white hair.

Zamuseru's eyes widened momentarily, before he shook his head, saying, "Alright, then. My name is Zamuseru Uzukano, sole surviving member of the Uzukano household. The woman who ran the bandit through is named Himari Noihara… in fact, hold on a second." He then turned his head to face Himari, yelling, "Himari, you need to introduce yourself now!"

Himari, as she heard him calling her, got the bandit off her sword and flicked off the lingering blood. She then hurried over to his side and bowed respectfully. "My name is Himari Noihara, member of the Noihara household, in servitude to the Uzukano household."

"I suppose since we're trying to be all buddy buddy now that I'll introduce myself. The name's Shizen; no surname that I know of," the ebon haired Manakete stated. He then looked to them with narrowed eyes and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who's referring to themselves as 'Marth', would you? We got separated and I'm looking for them."

"Dood *cough, cough* I need a drink *wheeze*." Came Unsei's voice as he approached the group covered in soot with an equally covered Frederick, the both were being helped by Lissa.

At around this point, Zamuseru decided to look around the battlefield, wondering how he managed to kill the foes he fought in this world. He felt that he should have puked right about then, but, for whatever reason, he didn't feel the need to. It was like… like he had trained in the art of killing before, and he was thoroughly desensitized to it now.

"What's up with you, boyo? And by the way people, the name's Unsei, Unsei Chujitsuna!" Unsei said with a cough at the beginning as he addressed Zamuseru and posed with his left arm in a fist pump.

That little bit startled Zamuseru, being addressed by someone that, by all rights, was more than passingly familiar to him for some reason, even if he didn't remember the reason. Somehow, though, there was a name that stuck in place with the face of Unsei… a name that didn't make sense for some reason, unless the guy was Puerto Rican, or something.

"...Drake the Gunner? Is that you?" Zamuseru asked all of a sudden to Unsei.

"He… hehe hyahahahahahaha! Man you're slow my good Gamma! Kehehehe Now then shall we continue?" If anything it seems that the now revealed Drake was a complete psycho… or has a really bad case of personality disorder.

Zamuseru, aka Xamusel on the internet, opted for the personality disorder. Still….

"Er, hate to break it to you, but its Xamusel… not Gamma. Only one person is allowed to call me that, and he's not here, Drake," he said with a sigh, wondering how long it would take to get home.

Still, given that he was gonna be stuck here for a minimum of a few years, Zamuseru figured that he might give his parents grandchildren to play with… or something. If he was lucky, he might be able to return home with children, and show his family the little ones he sired. Somehow, he felt that he wouldn't be that lucky, but he could only hope… right?

"Ahem. Sorry, got a little carried away there. Well Xam, or should I say Zamu? How did you get here? Better yet, is that lady Himari from Omamori Himari?" Drake told him and had hope on his voice on his question of Himari.

With a facepalm, Zamuseru said, "Zamu works in this context. I apparently am the sole survivor of a massacre of the Uzukano family, even though I had a… strange meeting, you could say… with someone wearing a butterfly mask. As for if Himari Noihara is indeed from Omamori Himari… WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"

Before things could continue getting out of hand, Zamuseru noticed something out of the corner of his left eye, namely a doorway to what appeared to be the Velvet Room… wait, hold on, what the heck?

Walking over to the door, he attempted to open it, thinking that it would open for him and nobody else would be able to see it—

"Excuse me," Robin said to Zamuseru, making him pause in place. "What business do you have in that rundown abandoned house?"

Now that he got a better picture of what the place was like, Zamu was wondering what the place used to house, before being a Velvet Room terminal at least. Turning to see what the identification said, he saw the names "Igor" and "Matilda" on the side of the doorpost, making him wonder if Igor was the same guy who ran the Velvet Room or someone else. It was when he was about to direct his attention away when he saw what he thought was the key to the door.

Grabbing the key, Zamu looked back at the door, noticing that the key could very well help open the room. With that, he moved the key to the lock, unlocking the door and opening it.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**(Zamuseru's POV)**

I was almost immediately assaulted by a strange flash of blue light, as if it would pierce deep within my soul, when the flash died down and revealed that I was… on an upbound escalator of some sort. While the escalator itself was normal, being a metallic color, the rest of the area around me was not. It was like the department store that you'd find in Fourside in Earthbound that was supposed to have customers' non-stop… until a monster kidnapped Paula and had her held hostage somewhere other than the store. Then there was the fact that the whole interior was blue and nothing else!

Finally, I got to the part where the escalator wanted to take me, taking me to the top floor of the place… and an office was right in front of me with a closed door. Seriously, who puts an office inside a department store, unless they were the ones running… the… place…?

Then I remembered that this was the terminal of the Velvet Room. It probably stood to reason that Igor was in the office right in front of me. With that, I walked up to the door and knocked, only for the door to open on its own for me. As if timed perfectly….

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, our dear young guest!" the unforgettable voice of Igor rang out from deep inside the room. Inside the room, there was a small coffee table for guests to sit at, some seats around the coffee table, a desk off to my right with a sign that said "Philemon, CEO" in front of the seat, and two other people in the room, apart from myself. The first was a young woman with long platinum blonde hair, jade green eyes, porcelain-colored skin, a velvet blue trenchcoat and a velvet blue pair of pants… and a pair of black shoes. She was sitting on one of the chairs around the coffee table, to my right. The other, Igor… well, he's someone I'd rather not describe as someone only a mother could love (even though it's true). He was sitting across from me, face to the door.

"My name is Igor," he said to me, a tone of jovial mystery in his voice. "I am happy to make your acquaintance, Zamuseru Uzukano. My boss has told me quite a bit about you."

"Is that so?" I ask Igor. "I was thinking that I'd have to make my mark in the world before you get such info on me."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Igor replied. From how Igor said it, it seemed that I didn't need to make my mark yet, which didn't make sense to me. Still… why?

"Alright, how am I being ridiculous?" I ask him, unsure if I'd get a straight answer.

"You have a huge role to play in the future, do you not? Given that you already spoke with my boss, he knows quite well that you will have much to worry about in the future." Igor said, in a straight answer kind of way, which sorta threw me for a loop.

"O...kay, then," I replied. It was at that point in time that I thought of another question. "Do others have the ability to use Persona in this world? Or am I the only one with that power here?"

"At present, you are the only one with the power to evoke a Persona," Igor answered in a sage-like manner. "Now… have a seat. I have much to explain to you, and the best way to shorten that time is with a small description with a lot of interpretations, Zamuseru."

With that, I took the seat opposite of him, wondering what he was going to explain to me. When I took the seat, he didn't say anything right off, but he did lay out some cards that looked suspiciously like Tarot cards… oh.

"Each reading is unique to the person who receives it, don't you agree? It's like life in that way," Igor asked and explained.

I could only dumbly nod my head in that regard. I honestly wasn't expecting a reading at this point in time… nor was I expecting to be stuck in an alternate reality.

I took the time to study how the cards were laid out. There were two rows, each with nine cards, though I wasn't sure what the rows were for. I could assume they were for my one life, but I didn't want to assume much of anything, if only because I'd rather not be seen as an idiot.

"The bottom row is your current life, divided in sections of how you'll live your life over the course of this current adventure," Igor explained. "The top row is for your next adventure, and will be kept unturned until you need to understand them, which isn't for now."

I was sorta speechless… I'd have to go on a separate adventure after this was done? What about my sponsor child and my job?

"The first," Igor said, ignoring my expression, so it'd seem, while turning over the card to his bottom left, "is the Four of Pentacles, in the upright position. It seems that you will come across a major inheritance in the time that you'll be here. What the inheritance is, I'm not sure of, either. The second," he continued by turning over the next card, "is the Page of Wands, in the upright position. It appears that you will have a good testimony on your hands from someone that seems to know your character. A most fortuitous card to have. The third," he continued, turning the next card over, "is the Six of Pentacles, in the upright position. It is a card of charity, one that means that you will either receive or give money that will be used to help the poor live their lives. The fourth," he continued, flipping card four over, "is the Ten of Pentacles, in the reverse position. It could easily mean you will lose your hard-earned money, or you will have a dowry received in order to marry someone, given how this land works. The fifth," he continued by flipping the fifth card over, "is the Eight of Cups, in the upright position. It seems that you will lose the drive of your previous encounters and desire to walk away from it all… or, perhaps, you will have a time of modesty and honor. The sixth," he again continued while flipping the sixth card over, "is The Last Judgement, in the upright position. You will seem to have a renewal in your life, a change of outcomes that will benefit you the most, given the power of how the universe is flowing. The seventh," he continued while flipping over the seventh card, "is The Magician, in the reverse position. It would appear that your abilities will be seen with much questioning in the future. The eighth," he further continued while flipping over the eighth card, "is the Nine of Cups, in the upright position. You will be filled with success in the future, so it would seem. The final card of this adventure," Igor came to the conclusion with the ninth card being flipped over, "is the Queen of Pentacles, in the reverse position. You will have a great reason to mistrust someone, one who will be seen as evil by the time this adventure runs its course, though it will be a great miracle if you manage to end this evil."

With a sigh, I ask Igor, "How will I be able to remember everything that you said I would be able to see in this adventure?"

"It will come to you as soon as each individual event happens, Zamuseru," Igor said. With a wave of his left hand, the bottom row of cards vanished, leaving the unturned cards behind. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention." Motioning to the young woman, he said, "This is my assistant, Matilda."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Matilda," I heard the woman say, in an amalgamation of Elizabeth and Margaret's voices from the Persona 3 and 4 games.

Igor took the opportunity to hand me an object, saying, "Hold onto this. You need this and the key that you discovered next to the door."

Looking at the object, I nearly dropped it, gaping at it all the while. It was the equivalent of an iPhone! Unfortunately for me, it didn't have a calling feature that I could find, but it did have a strange app installed. Looking at the app, I press my thumb to it, seeing that it required me to look my eyes at it for a bit. When I looked at it… I saw a leveling chart on hand with my name on it! For whatever reason, the stats looked like they belonged in a Persona… game… oh, right.

Igor, as if aware of what was going on, said, "Until we meet again… farewell." With that, the blue light from earlier shone back even brighter than before, making me wonder what was going to happen next, until… I found myself back in front of the door.

* * *

**XxX-_-XxX**

* * *

**Xamusel A/N: Well… the plot really is thickening right now. I have the sneaking suspicion that you guys won't know what I mean by that until too late.**

**By the way, yes, I drew the tarot cards for the reading myself. I didn't conform it to the story, mind you, it's the other way around… or so I'd like to say. However, the story will follow the cards as a guideline, not as the absolute word of God.**

**Well, I guess I'd better let you guys go, if only because I'm going to be starting up a new story on my end. No, this doesn't mean I'll be abandoning this story, not at all.**

**Well… Hasta Luego.**

**~Xamusel**

**PS: I'll be sure to keep things ready for how we'll finish the story… and, as it turns out, pain17ification has a lot on his plate right now, so he's unavailable to help out, sad to say.**

**PSS: Did I spell the farewell right? If not, someone please let me know, alright?**


End file.
